HDfury Arcana vs Arcana 2

What the bandwidth difference actually means

The headline numbers are 18 Gbps and 40 Gbps, but those figures only matter through what they let a signal carry. A 4K60 picture at 4:4:4 chroma and 8-bit colour needs roughly 18 Gbps, which is why the original HDfury Arcana stops there: it is an HDMI 2.0b device operating at the top of what that generation defined.

4K120 changes the arithmetic. Doubling the frame rate doubles the data, and adding 10-bit colour for HDR adds more again. That combination needs HDMI 2.1 and its FRL signalling, which is what the Arcana 2 implements at FRL5, up to 40 Gbps. It is not that the original model is slower at the same job — it is that the newer signal type does not exist on HDMI 2.0b at all.

The practical consequence: if nothing in your chain produces a signal above 4K60, the extra bandwidth of the Arcana 2 is capacity you will never use. If something does, no setting on the original model can make room for it.

Both models handle audio identically

This is the part people most often assume differs, and it does not. Dolby Atmos over TrueHD, Dolby MAT Atmos, DTS:X, DTS-HD Master Audio, multichannel PCM and the older compressed formats all pass through either model, subject to what your sound system can decode. The adjustable eARC delay runs from 0 to 255 ms on both.

So if your reason for buying is audio — Atmos to a Sonos Arc, a projector with no audio return, a television that refuses to pass DTS — the audio outcome is the same on both models. Choose on video, not on sound.

The second output is the other real difference

Beyond bandwidth, the HDfury Arcana 2 adds an HDMI COPY output that the original does not have. It runs in four modes, and each one solves a distinct problem:

The manual names them in the Scaler sub-menu, and the default is No Scaling: what comes in goes out untouched, so the second output mirrors the first.

Downscale TX1. Downscales and converts FRL to TMDS on the COPY output where needed. The manual's own example is 4K120 FRL5 in, 1080p 4:4:4 8-bit TMDS out. This is the mode that lets 4K120 and Philips Hue Sync coexist, which is otherwise awkward.

FRL → TMDS TX1. Converts FRL to TMDS without downscaling: 4K120 FRL5 in, 4K120 4:2:0 8-bit TMDS out. Resolution is kept and chroma gives way instead.

Audio Only TX1. Sends a dummy 1080p video signal carrying full audio, so an older AV receiver with no eARC input still receives the complete soundtrack. If you have a receiver you are not replacing, this mode is often the deciding argument on its own.

Beyond those there is a list of fixed output ceilings — 4K60 4:4:4 8-bit, 4K60 4:2:0 10-bit, 4K30 4:4:4 8-bit, 1080p 12-bit and others, each in an LLDV/HDR or an SDR variant. Pick the one that matches the connected display; the manual is explicit that choosing the wrong LLDV/HDR or SDR variant causes problems of its own.

Scaling works in both directions on the HDfury Arcana 2

The original Arcana downscales: 4K to 1080p or 2K in supported modes. The Arcana 2 both upscales and downscales up to 120 Hz, so 1080p or 2K can go out at 4K or 8K, and 8K or 4K can come down to something an older display accepts. Both have signal-dependent exceptions; VRR, 1080i, 720p and 480i/p are not upscaled.

Which one for your situation

Streaming and disc playback. Apple TV, Shield, Fire TV, UHD Blu-ray players. All stay within 4K60. The original HDfury Arcana.

A projector. Most projectors are 4K60, so the original Arcana. Choose the Arcana 2 for a 4K120 projector or if you want a second output alongside it.

PS5, Xbox Series X or a gaming PC. The Arcana 2, without hesitation. 4K120 and VRR are exactly what it exists for, and the original model cannot carry those signals.

An older AV receiver in the chain. The Arcana 2, for the HDMI COPY audio mode.

A mixed setup where only one source is 4K120. Still the Arcana 2. The chain is limited by its weakest link, and a single 4K120 source is enough to require the bandwidth.

What neither model does

Neither device decodes, re-encodes or upmixes audio. They pass through what the source sends. Neither can add a format your sound system cannot decode: an ARC-only soundbar will not receive Atmos over TrueHD through either of them, because that format does not fit through ARC at all.

Neither turns an ARC television into an eARC television. What they do is take the audio before the television sees it, which makes the television's limitations irrelevant for external sources — but the television's own apps still return audio through the television's own port, with the television's own limits.

And neither compensates for cables. A chain rated below the signal it carries produces black screens, flicker and dropouts that look exactly like a device fault. For 4K60 use a Premium High Speed cable; for anything approaching 40 Gbps, an Ultra High Speed cable, kept short in copper or run as active or optical over distance.